The present invention relates in general to the field of motor vehicles.
The following discussion of related art is provided to assist the reader in understanding the advantages of the invention, and is not to be construed as an admission that this related art is prior art to this invention.
Motor vehicles are increasingly equipped with “steer-by-wire” steering systems, involving a mechanical or hydraulic decoupling of steering wheel or steering column and wheels of the vehicle. “Steer-by-wire” technology not only decreases weight by doing away with many mechanical components of the steering device but also provides for a so-called autopilot. The presence of an autopilot enables a piloted driving of the vehicle so that the driver no longer has to actively steer the vehicle. Piloted driving enables the driver to attend to other things while the vehicle is travelling and thus allows the driver to travel in a relaxed and trouble-free manner.
Vehicles are known with a steering wheel that can be retracted into an instrument panel or dashboard so as to provide more space for the driver. A retraction of the steering wheel makes it however necessary to alter an airbag system on the driver side, similar to the airbag system on the passenger side, because the airbag which is normally incorporated in the steering wheel would be too small to protect the driver when the steering wheel is retracted. Proposals have been made to provide an airbag not only in the steering wheel but also in the dashboard. In the event of a crash, either the airbag of the steering wheel is deployed, when the driver steers the vehicle by hand, or the airbag arranged in the dashboard is deployed in the event of piloted travel. This proposal has shortcomings because the dashboard becomes bulkier and because of the requirement to provide two airbags on the driver side when the vehicle is equipped with retractable steering wheel.
It would therefore be desirable and advantageous to address this problem and to obviate other prior art shortcomings.